New Year’s Parenting Resolutions

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This is a sponsored post, our contributor received the products at no cost in exchange for this post. All opinions are her own.

 I’m not a big New Year’s Resolution setter because I personally feel like if I am going to make a change, set a goal, or accomplish a task, right now seems like the best time to begin, rather than waiting for the first of the year to roll around. Although, a few things that I am constantly working on is to commit to being more present with my kids and to engage more in their playtime, and to find new ways to streamline household cleaning & tidying up. With the help of these cool products, I hope to maintain my parenting new year resolutions.  

My 4 year old little boy is absolutely crazy for HotWheels cars. So this new Hot Wheels play tape from InRoad Toys came in handy for us to make a little race track on the dining room floor.  

HotWheels PlayTape Track & Corners
Zoom!

As you can see, it’s not the fanciest race track ever made, but 4 year olds don’t seem to mind so much as long as Mommy is on the floor playing with them. PlayTape sticks to any flat surface and is easy to tear by hand and re-position. It reminds me of painter tape. It peels up without any residue and is recyclable, so cleaning up is a snap. Just unroll, stick & race! For the collector, Play Tape can be used to line a display shelf and showcase cars. Even though my 1 year old didn’t try to peel the tape up and eat it, the recommended age for HotWheels PlayTape is 3+. The tape retails for about $5 per roll and is available at Toys R Us & Hobby Lobby.  

Daddy is in charge of bath time at our house but on occasion, I get my boys in the tub to wash off the massive amounts of dirt that sticks to their bodies after a day at the park.

Why do boys get so dirty? After a particularly filthy park excursion that involved mud soup, I announced that they were going to get in the tub and that I had a fun new bath toy to play with. The excitement was beyond containable the whole way home and by the time we walked in the door it was at a fever pitch! I had to open up the packaging for this cool looking toy from Yookidoo. Why does toy packaging have to be so intense?  All those ties and tape and the box itself is destruction proof! The 4 year old was desperate to get the pieces from me and the baby was just desperate for me. It was such a scene! Then I realized that there are batteries involved but not included and to open the cover where the batteries go required one of the super small screwdrivers which I don’t have. And even if I did have batteries the toy itself didn’t fit properly so that the piece that spits up the water could be submerged by the water. I came very close to throwing the whole thing out, and while my anger management issues are for another post, I took several deep breaths to settle down and remembered that it was about spending time together and being present with my boys and I could just make it work. So even though the Spin ‘N’ Sort Spout Pro is supposed to spit water out of the top, we didn’t play with it that way. I just attached it to the wall and we used the cups to pour water into it. It ended up being a super fun bath time. 

Another area we are trying to make improvement in is bed time.

To be totally honest, it’s a little bit out of control at my house. I was really looking forward to using our new  Claessens’ Kids Kid’Sleep Moon. A cute little alarm clock/night light that features an awake setting and a sleep setting, so that those early risers can tell when it’s OK to get up and out of bed and come get mommy & daddy. There’s also a calm, soothing “alarm” that goes off when it’s time to wake up. There’s even a nap time setting! I did find the settings to be confusing and kinda tricky to set and the night light barely gave off any illumination at all, just a blue glow, so it didn’t do much to solve the dilemma of being afraid of the dark.  

Finally, after kids have been entertained, bathed, and gone off to bed, it’s time to tackle the mess of the day.

That’s where the Chemical-free Cleaning Home Starter Kit comes in handy. The kit includes three core cloths to clean all major hard surfaces in the home without chemicals and remove 99% of bacteria by using just water. The kit comes with Bathroom Cloth, General Purpose Cloth, and Glass & Polishing Cloth. All three are reusable and machine washable for up to 300 washes. To put these cloths to the test, I literally got down on my knees and used the General Purpose Cloth to tend to my kitchen floor. With a one year old who feeds himself and a picky dog who doesn’t care for most people food, my floor gets pretty gross. I was amazed at what a good job this cloth did to wipe up all the mess. I rinsed it out and then used it to tackle our microfiber couch. It did a great job with that, too! I always feel like the bathroom is the one place where cleaning doesn’t count unless it’s done with some good ol’ chemicals, but following the directions on the package, I just used water and went to cleaning. Mind you, I have a boy who has yet to master his aim, so that little cloth had a big job to do. I was really impressed with it! The Glass & Polishing Cloth didn’t do much for spotty mirrors, but it did shine up the faucets quite nicely. 

e-Cloth Chemical-free Cleaning Home Starter Kit

Moving forward in 2017, committing to staying engaged and present with my family, getting my kids to go to bed without a big fuss, and keeping my house clean & tidy will take great effort on a daily basis.

Whatever your resolution is, remember that it’s OK to make a mistake and they will most likely happen. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed, mama. Don’t give up! Each and every day is filled with new opportunities to “do better.” You can do this! I’m cheering for you!  

I’d love to hear some of your resolutions!